Boxing match

For anyone who's ever complained about the amount of packing they have to do, here's a sobering look at one of Amazon's warehouses two weeks before Christmas.

All my Christmas for sale

The Daily Mail has a rather odd story about selling your entire Christmas - decorations, half-eaten choccies, unwanted CD - on eBay. It's an amusing idea, along the lines of All My Life for Sale, but I can't help thinking the sale itself would have raised so much more for the unnamed charitable beneficiary if the writer had known what she was doing.

A one day listing, beginning Boxing Day, for Christmas decorations is never going to be the most effective. Selling off your own old tat just when everyone else is selling the same thing will never get you the best price. If you want to make a real killing on Christmas decorations, sell them in August (believe me, I've seen it done).

Then we have

I spend ages trying to decide how much to charge for postage. There's an awful lot to mail out and the tree is quite heavy. I think it would cost about £10 to post, but am worried it will put people off bidding. I opt for £2.50 and hope I don't have to pay out much more than that.

Never, never, never guess at postage. By all means, subsidise it within the item cost if that's what you choose to do, but make it an informed decision to do so.

Still on the postage theme, we have this interesting ASQ a bit further down:

Q: is the posting a mistake at 2.50
A: No, the postage is not a mistake - it is £2.50. I have a job that means I can get things delivered cheaply. Thank you

You see, you can make the postage too cheap: buyers don't mind paying what postage *costs*, what they object to is sellers making a huge profit on it. And if you *are* using your post room at work to ship your eBay sales, it's probably best not to advertise it on a public forum.

Of course, if you can seriously write "an hour goes by without a bid I must admit I feel despondent", then you obviously haven't a clue what you're doing, and should probably stick to earning your living writing idiotic articles for tabloid newspapers.

Parcelforce end eBay offer early

It was announced this morning that Parcelforce's discount offer to eBay sellers would be ended early, "due to unprecedented demand". If you still want a discounted delivery, plenty of sellers are still offering them.

Parcelforce low cost Christmas deliveries

Send a parcel anywhere in the UK from just £10.99 for Parcelforce 48 and £11.99 for Parcelforce 24. The offer runs for all eBay sellers from the 13th to 21st of December 2007. Parcelforce will collect from your doorstep and deliver to your customer and you don't even need a ParcelForce account to take advantage of the offer.

There are some terms and conditions but this is a great opportunity to sell those heavier items and qualify for eBay Get it Fast. Let your buyers know their purchases will arrive in time for Christmas. This offer was previously only available to PowerSellers but is now open to all eBay sellers.

Of course if you need to send a lot of parcels it's worth opening an account so don't forget the free wine promotion.

Post and Packing Banned!!

Fee avoidance has always been an issue that eBay have struggled to combat. Fee avoidance takes many forms but the latest drive is to eradicate items with low prices but unreasonably high shipping charges - eBay have committed to crack down on this practice. eBay appear however, to be removing auctions with reasonable postage through ignorance of actual costs whilst ignoring auctions in categories where fee avoidance is habitual and blatant.

It is undoubtedly a poor buying experience to find an item you want at a great price just to discover that the postage cost is many times the bid price. This is especially bad when the postage price isn't shown in search results and a great argument for eBay to present total price, including shipping to the buyers location, instead of the item price. At the same time the practise disadvantages buyers who list the true selling price with realistic shipping charges as buyers are likely to home in on the lowest cost items bypassing the more expensive. This undermines the marketplace for both buyers and sellers.

Sadly their drive to rebalance the marketplace seem to be targeting the wrong auctions. Rather than concentrating on prolific fee avoiders they have been removing listings which have legitimate postage charges commensurate with the weight of the item and method of shipping. Recent examples of removed auctions we are aware of include

A heavy hardback book with postage charge £5.50
Actual cost £3.85 for standard parcels
Actual packaging materials £0.85
Total £4.90 leaving £0.60 for handling and sundries

Telephone equipment weighing 8kg with postage charge £12.00 (specified as courier delivery from a VAT registered seller)
The lowest cost on the ParcelForce rate card for 8kg would be £14.25 (plus VAT) so £12.00 is reasonable.
As an alternative a 3-5 day delivery actual cost £9.97 for RoyalMail standard parcels
VAT on £9.97 = £1.75
Total cost £11.72 leaving £0.18 for packaging and handling. (NB This is the cheapest method available)

In these two examples if eBay were familiar with actual shipping costs quoted by Royal Mail or couriers perhaps they wouldn't remove these auctions. To demonstrate just how poor eBay's understanding of shipping methods and costs are you only have to look at the examples they provide in the Excessive Postage & Packaging Charges Policy.

The Matrix Reloaded DVD
BIN: £3.99
Domestic Postage UK £2.00 Royal Mail Second Class
Explanation: The seller is sending the item via Royal Mail First Class parcels and is charging actual postage prices plus a reasonable fee for packaging and handling.

In this example just what postage are they looking at? Second class? First class? Standard Parcels? If eBay can't research shipping charges sufficiently to write their own policy it's unrealistic to expect their customer service reps to implement the policy with any understanding.

To make the situation worse statements from eBay to sellers whose auctions were ended have been "We want each seller to have a balance in their listings, between the price and the shipping cost. So therefore I urge you to adjust them" or "relist the auctions with a postage cost below the original costs to show you've complied with the policy" (How much below?) "Just a little lower". Such messages have naturally been treated with the contempt they deserve when actual or close to actual postage costs have been charged. Instructing sellers to incorporate shipping costs into the item price whilst others don't is not providing a balanced marketplace.

Removing auctions for sellers where postage is high in comparison to the item cost, but where weight is significant and suggesting that sellers reduce postage below cost and incorporate it into the selling price also raises accusations of profiteering on eBay's part. eBay make fees on final value prices (and on listing fees if starting prices are higher). They do not make fees on postage. It's worth noting sellers will simply increase selling prices to take fees into account degredating the buyer experience yet further.

There have been calls in the past for the postage to be incorporated into the item cost removing all ambiguity. This naturally raises difficulties when shipping costs vary between domestic and overseas destinations.

If eBay really want to start reducing fee circumvention they should look at categories such as MP3 players with shipping regularly ten times the cost of the item! Fee avoidance is sadly just the tip of the iceberg, sellers that resort to it often have grossly unfair and often illegal terms and conditions of trading. Examples include

"All items will be sent by Registered Air Mail and mark as "Gift"" (which is illegal and breaks Customs regulations)
Quoting shipping and in the small print plus "required insurance for the each item" (gouging even more money from the buyer without paying eBay fees)
"All sales are final, no return or refund will be issued" (so if it's faulty they won't help you)
"We reserve the right not to refund S&H when the item has been posted" (meaning if the product is defective they don't refund you for the grossly overcharged postage - just the couple of quid for the product)

Muddying the water further some fee avoiding overseas sellers with low price high postage products have started to incorporate Union Jacks in their gallery pictures to trick buyers to thinking items are located in the UK.

- Unhappy buyers who fall for outrageously high postage charges and compulsory insurance
- Unhappy buyers snared with illegal or unreasonable terms and conditions
- Unhappy buyers who have a poor buying experience trying to wade through auctions with unreasonably high postage charges
- Unhappy sellers who feel their auctions are removed unjustly whilst seeing many others remain
- Unhappy sellers unable to compete against those trading unfairly

eBay desperately need to get a handle on fee circumvention in general and excessive shipping charges in particular. In their own words "Listings that include excessive P&P fees lead to a poor buying experience and unlevel the playing field by putting sellers who charge reasonable P&P charges at a disadvantage. These listings undermine the trust and legitimacy of eBay’s marketplace." Trust and legitimacy works both ways, it doesn't include removing sellers auctions that have reasonable postage costs whilst the site is infested with auctions that not only blatantly avoid fees but have darn right illegal trading practices.

Get it Fast in time for Christmas

Time to start adding Special Delivery or ParcelForce options to all your eBay listings. From tomorrow eBay will start promoting 'Get it Fast' to buyers in the run up to Christmas.

Get it fast gives buyers the option of a guaranteed delivery time on their purchases to ensure the gifts they buy arrive in good time for Christmas. Many will be willing to pay slightly more for the peace of mind knowing the presents they buy will be there for the big day.


eBay have a 'Seasonal Seller Guide' with tips on selling in the run up to the holiday period

Free wine offer from ParcelForce

Couriers! Which one to choose? which is most reliable? Which is cheapest? Lots of questions and just about everyone will have a different opinion on which courier is best to use.

Why not have a glass of wine while mulling it over with our offer in conjunction with ParcelForce? Simply open an account, spend £100.00 and they'll deliver a case of 12 bottles of wine to your doorstep*. Of course a few bottles of wine isn't a great reason for choosing your courier so read on to see what could make ParcelForce a good choice for you. If you send at least 5 UK items or 1 international item per week then you could become an account customer.

Price

The cost per parcel is always negotiable on a courier delivery contract and it's no different with ParcelForce. Don't accept the first price they offer - get a price and then negotiate using tactics like "If you could lower the price below £7.40 I could put all my Special Delivery parcels with you as well". The larger the quantity you can ship with them the better the price you'll get.

International

Don't forget if you can ship one parcel a week Internationally it's worth opening an International account as well as one for domestic deliveries.

Fuel Surcharge

Most couriers charge a fuel surcharge and ParcelForce is no exception, don't forget to factor this in when negotiating a price.

Redelivery Cost

This is a charge which may be hidden in your courier contract. Many couriers will attempt delivery twice before charging it. Sadly with home users if they leave a card the recipient may not get it until they're home from work. The next day they telephone to arrange redelivery but by that time the parcel is out on the van for the second delivery attempt. When the parcel is eventually delivered the sender (you!) will be charged a redelivery charge. The great thing about ParcelForce is that they do NOT have redelivery charges.

Return Charges

Many couriers will charge you to return an undelivered parcel, some charge more for returns than the initial delivery cost! ParcelForce do NOT charge for returns.

Over water and Highlands and Islands surcharges

Couriers may charge extra for crossing water to destinations such as the Isle of Wight, ParcelForce do not surcharge for this. Many couriers including ParcelForce charge extra for certain areas of the country, the good news is that with ParcelForce you can negotiate a flat rate regardless of the destination in the UK.

Insurance

This is something we hope we never have to use, but inevitably whichever courier you choose they'll lose a parcel or one will be damaged. Make sure that their insurance covers the goods that you wish to send, e.g. for glass many decline insurance coverage.

Redirects / Saturday Deliveries / Post Office collections

Selling is all about making it easy for the customer, and ParcelForce excels at this. If a recipient would like delivery to an alternate address (a neighbour or work), or on a Saturday they can arrange this and ParcelForce will bill them a small surcharge. You the sender don't have to pay the charge.

ParcelForce can delivery to a local post office and your customer can collect from there. ParcelForce are set up to make it as easy as possible to get your goods to your customers. If they're home users that are out at work all day collecting from a post office or redirects/Saturday deliveries are great options.

VAT

ParcelForce are currently the only courier in the country not to charge VAT. This is a great advantage to sellers who aren't VAT registered. Even for those that are VAT registered it still saves paying out VAT simply to reclaim it on your VAT return.

eBay and ParcelForce

Finally ParcelForce are the only courier which appear in the eBay shipping options. If you want to use a courier to qualify and appear in eBay Get it Fast searches ParcelForce is the choice to make.

Free Wine Offer!

So if you're looking for a courier or want to try an alternative why not give ParcelForce a try? Visit ParcelForce on their website or call them on 0800 413 501. When you speak to them or register on their website quote reference number 463931 to qualify for 12 bottles of wine* as soon as you've spent £100 on deliveries.
(*Terms apply. Closing date to open account 31st March 2007, account spend must reach £100 by 30th June 2007)